Mary Louise's picks for Gallery Night & Day

An online journal about visual art, the urban landscape and design. Mary Louise Schumacher, the Journal Sentinel's art and architecture critic, leads the discussion and a community of writers contribute to the dialogue.

Summer can be a period of transition, and so it goes with this Gallery Night & Day. Fresh talent is emerging, artists are returning, others are preparing to leave and venues are experimenting with new things.

The quarterly art crawl, which takes place Friday evening and Saturday, is a great opportunity to get a fix on Milwaukee's more creative side in an easygoing, social atmosphere.

But with so many venues participating, it can be a dizzying blur. Here are some exhibits we can recommend wholeheartedly. (See an image gallery here).

'Quiet'
Walker's Point Center for the Arts, 839 S. 5th St.

Art can be slow sometimes - in a wonderful way. Art - good art, anyway - usually asks us to do what our hustle-bustle world seems to get in the way of so often: pause and consider our perceptions of reality.

"Quiet," an exhibition curated by local artist Josie Osborne, is intended to be an antidote to the many layers of volume in our lives today. This three-person show features the work of Melanie Pankau, Kevin Giese and Tyler Meuninck. A reception will be held from 5 to 9 p.m. Friday; the space will be open from noon to 5 p.m. Saturday

When Dean Jensen, one of Milwaukee's more astute gallery owners, sets his mind to finding emerging talent, we will certainly be treated to fresh art and ideas. Jensen will open a large, visually eclectic exhibit of emerging artists Friday night, including artists he's championed for some years, including Joseph Bolstad, Mayuko Kono and Claire Stigliani, and newer discoveries such as Dane Haman, Huey Crowley (image, right), Arnold Martin, Roger Cleaves and Josh Nemec. A reception will be held from 6 to 9 p.m. Friday; the gallery is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday.

'Crossroads'
SoHi Building, 760 N. 27th St.

With a belief that art programming should extend beyond the museum walls, the Haggerty Museum of Art created a project, temporarily placing art by accomplished Wisconsin artists in windows at 27th and Wells streets. For Gallery Night & Day, the museum also has put together a two-day exhibit featuring work by artists Hans Gindlesberger, Rafael Francisco Salas, Michael Velliquette and Rina Yoon. The window installations reflect the themes of reinvention and revitalization. The exhibit will be on view from 5 to 9 p.m. Friday and from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday.

Allison Halter
Astrix Gallery, 524 W. National Ave.

If you've been kicking around Milwaukee's art scene for a while, you'll probably remember artist Allison Halter. I adored the little show at the now defunct Jody Monroe Gallery back in 2002, in which Halter documented her daily outfits for as long as it took her to exhaust what was in her closet, wearing everything only once (it took 223 days). Or perhaps you remember one of her performances as part of the I Love Cooperation! band and collective some years later.

In any case, Halter, now based in Portland, Ore., is returning to Milwaukee for a performance and exhibit, which will include two new video works. An opening for "The Eating of Burning Brimstone Is a Fake Performance" will be held from 6 to 10 p.m. Friday, with a performance at 7 p.m. Astrix is one of Milwaukee's newest gallery spaces, run by local artists Makeal Flammini and Colin Matthes.

Stanley Ryan Jones
Café Lulu, 2265 S. Howell Ave.

Many Milwaukeeans know Stanley Ryan Jones for his harshly lit, snapshot-like photographs of the punk rock and New Wave music scene. He's known for images of Iggy Pop and David Byrne taken with startling bursts of flash at face-to-face range in the back hallways of bygone and legendary music venues. What you may not know is that he paints, too (image, left). A show of his photographs and paintings will go on view in the restaurant and bar at Café Lulu. An opening party starts at 10 p.m. Friday.

Saint John's on the Lake, a retirement community that provides independent living, assisting living residences and skilled nursing facilities, has for years been committed to cultural programming. It has been host to many small and wonderful art exhibits - though they've been tucked away in a basement hallway. With a dramatic expansion featuring a new tower, Saint John's has created a new gallery space for its residents and the community. Now, the Uihlein Peters Gallery is free to show large-scale work. The inaugural show will feature the swirling abstract paintings of Leslie Vansen and the atmospheric works of Charles Vansen.

Tracy Cirves
Portrait Society Gallery, 207 E. Buffalo St., Suite 526

Painter Tracy Cirves' female figures sink deeply into gentle geometries and luminous hues of reds, violets and oranges. Her paintings may look naïve or untrained at first glance, says gallery owner Debra Brehmer, but this artist is simply working in a free and open manner, both conceptually and formally.

Cirves' subject is the shared experience of girlhood. Mining the iconography of the fairy tale, the fashion magazine and popular culture, her work is an honest and earnest exploration of self. Recent works have been inspired by "The Yellow Wallpaper," Charlotte Perkins Gilman's late-19th-century story of psychological and physical isolation. The gallery is open until 9 p.m. Friday and from noon to 5 p.m. Saturday.

Fascinated with the process of pouring and spilling paint, of allowing gravity and evaporation to play a collaborative role in the art-making process, Greg Klassen has titled his latest show at Inova with the alchemical symbol for air. Klassen's abstract works are as beautiful and subtle as ever. Also showing at Inova is Martha Glowacki, whose sculptures inspire a sort of old-fashioned form of looking forward. Like natural curiosities found in cabinets of curiosities, her works put the onus on the eyes and the act of inspection. Inova will remain open until 9 p.m. Friday and is open noon to 5 p.m. Saturday.

'Summer in Wisconsin'
Tory Folliard Gallery, 233 N Milwaukee St.

Tory Folliard's summer group show will showcase some of the best works by some of her better artists, including Sofia Arnold, T.L. Solien, Fred Stonehouse, Derrick Buisch and Clare Malloy. An opening reception will be held from 5 to 9 p.m. Friday. The gallery is open from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday.

'Remarkable Women Show'
Peltz Gallery, 1119 E. Knapp St.

Don't let the title fool you. This show, an annual tradition for this gallery, is not an exhibit where we'll learn much about female contemporary artists today. Rather, it is about one woman - Cissie Peltz - and her rather remarkable eye for art. This exhibit is always a wonderful mishmash of local and national artists. Look for the intricately beaded work of Milwaukee artist Anne Kingsbury and the poetic etchings by Kara Walker, among others. An opening reception will be held from 6 to 9:30 p.m. Friday. On Saturday, a free French breakfast will be served from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., followed by a panel discussion.

'Whistle in the Dark'
Gallerie M, 139 E. Kilbourn Ave.

Just adjacent to the lobby at the InterContinental Milwaukee, this gallery represents a partnership and experiment with the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design. Danielle Rosen, who's just graduated from MIAD, has created several short-run exhibits for this space.

This exhibit of Raychael Stine's paintings represents Rosen's final project for Gallerie M. Stine's work is described as precarious, fashioned from trash bags, fabric strips and "gummy waves of paint." Rosen liked the idea of wrapping up her curatorial stint with a show that is traditional - painting and portraiture - while also surprising and subtle in terms of content and installation. Stine lives and works in Chicago, and is a visiting lecturer at the Texas Christian University School of Art in Fort Worth. A reception with cash bar will be held from 5 to 9 p.m. Friday.

In their senior year, students at MIAD pour what they've learned during their art-school experience into a single, yearlong project. These works are then assembled into a sprawling exhibit at the end of each year. After that, the very best work among the graduating class is singled out by faculty for inclusion in a smaller, discrete juried show. The 22 artists included in this show represent the best of the best of MIAD. It's a strong show this year. I was particularly taken with the layered nature of Sarah Rose Niemiec's large-scale paintings and the quietly poetic photographic installation by Mandie Lousier. The gallery will be open from 5 to 9 p.m. Friday and from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday.

'Mania'
Borg Ward Collective, 823 W. National Ave.

Let's call this show the wild card of the night.

"Mania" is a show featuring the work of two 2008 graduates of the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design, John Gatti, who now lives in Brooklyn, and Milwaukee-based Jesse Engelbrecht. Gatti's work is described as a graphic, visionary, multidisciplinary installation of works on paper, sculptures and an animation, all of which tell the tale of Spacetribe Candy, "a primitive group of aliens tragically invaded by technologically advanced reptilians." Engelbrecht, on the other hand, will take an equally graphic but journalistic look at his own experiences in, among other things, a colossal, freehand ink drawing. The show is open from 6 to 11 p.m. Friday and noon to 3 p.m. Saturday.

About Mary Louise Schumacher

Mary Louise Schumacher is the Journal Sentinel's art and architecture critic. She writes about culture, design, the urban landscape and Milwaukee's creative community. Art City is her award-winning cultural page and a community of more than 20 contributing writers and artists. Follow her on Facebook and Instagram.

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